Tuesday, March 29, 2016

“’The time has come,’ Jesus said.
‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent
and believe the good news!’”
(Mark 1:18, NIV).

Jesus’ message concerned
the “kingdom of God.”
We find the phrase 14 times in Mark’s Gospel and over 100 times in all four
Gospels. It is here in His first recorded message and in His last messages
according to Acts 1:3.

Jesus’ parables were
parables of the kingdom. What did Jesus mean by this? Is it a future kingdom? Is
it the church? What does it have to do with us today?

At the time of Jesus, the
idea of the kingdom was common in Jewish thinking. Scholars looked forward to a
new age of peace and material well-being when Israel would be free from the oppression
of Rome. Increasingly, the phrase “the kingdom of God”
had taken on a highly political tone. It had become virtually a slogan for
Jewish nationalism. Political activists and freedom fighters had begun to take
things into their own hands. Such revolutionaries were called “zealots” (Jesus chose one among his
disciples – Mark 3:18). Galilee, in particular, became a hotbed for such men. We
can easily imagine the tension in the air when Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is near!” But Jesus’ understanding of
the kingdom was different in a number of ways.

Firstly, for Jesus the kingdom was not national but personal. It was
about God’s rule in a person’s heart. The kingdom was not a territory to be
found on a map (like the United Kingdom) but God’s reign as king in an
individual’s life. During His trial, Jesus explains to Pontius Pilate that his
kingdom is “not of this world”
(John 18:36). It’s another kind of kingdom.

Secondly, for Jesus the kingdom was not material but spiritual. It is not a place of earthly prosperity but
spiritual blessing. When Jesus was asked by some Pharisees when the kingdom
would come, he told them that the kingdom of God is “within you.” That is, it is an internal and spiritual
kingdom, not an external and visible one (Luke 17:21). Paul, later in the New
Testament, tells us in Romans 14:17 that “the kingdom of God
is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit.”

Thirdly, for Jesus the kingdom was not only future
but here and now. With the
coming of Jesus, God’s rule among men had begun. The day the prophets had
dreamed of was here. The kingdom was here because Jesus was here!

And now, whenever a person
confess that Jesus is Lord, by repentance and faith, the kingdom of God is
present, for that person has made God king in his or her own life. Undoubtedly,
there is also a future element to the kingdom of God. The Bible looks forward
to a time when “the kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Revelation
11:15). But the first stage is here. Hence the challenge to repent and believe,
for this is the way into God’s kingdom.

Monday, March 28, 2016

“If your hand causes
you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with
two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot
causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled
than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to
stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with
one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘the worms that
eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched’”
(Mark 9:43-48, NIV).

I think this section of
Scripture is a good illustration that people need to know what the Bible means, not just what it says. If Jesus’ commands above were to
be taken literally, every believer alive would need to cut almost all part of
their bodies. Which of us has never sinned with our eyes (lusting, coveting),
hands (stealing, hitting), or feet (walking into trouble)? If we all did
precisely what the Bible said in this
case, we would need to line up for amputations service!

Jesus was using hyperbole
(spell high-per-boe-lee). It is an
exaggeration for effect and emphasis. You hear hyperbole every day: “I’ve told
you a million times”; “I was so
embarrassed I could have died”; “I’m
so hungry I could eat a horse.” The statements
are not literally true but are overstated to drive home a point. The point that
Jesus was driving home was that there are two ways to use your physical body –
for God’s purposes or against God’s purposes. If your goal is to serve God, and
yet your body do things that do not please God, your body is your enemy. Jesus
wants you, His followers, to give your eyes, hands and feet – and everything
else for that matter – to Him as well as your soul.

The Apostle Paul said it
this way: “Therefore, I urge you,
brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship”
(Romans 12:1). God is not interested in watching people chop themselves to
holiness, but rather He wants them to
discipline their physical bodies to match their spiritual commitment to Christ.
Thus, you must takes sin and its consequences very seriously (“hell where the fire never goes out”; “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched”;
scary!), as this passage shows.

It would have been nice if
we can hear first-hand what the Master said and asking Him about what He meant
exactly. But here is some good news: Today, wherever you go, His Spirit is
within you and His Word is before you. Walk with Christ so that you can be more
like Him. Nothing should stand in the way of faith. You must be ruthless in
removing sins from your life now in order to avoid being stuck with them for
eternity. Make your choices from an eternal perspective. Go for a spiritual
surgery now!

Think: What sins you need to “cut off” and “pluck out”
from your life
to be what God really wants you to be?

Sunday, March 27, 2016

“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to
live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter
Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know
what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This
is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my
sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared
because of you.’ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was
a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her
to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her
sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and
female servants, and camels”
(Genesis 12:10-16, NIV).

The journey God called
Abram to undertake wasn’t safe. Abram had to pass through the lands of many
unfriendly kings. As Abram’s danger grew, his fear grew – especially in the
land of Egypt. Pharaoh was the sort of king who took whatever he wanted. Abram
was afraid Pharaoh would want his wife, Sarai, and kill her husband to have
her. Abram would rather lose his wife than to protect her (Abram was faith-less
here; Sarai was very obedience).

Abram had a choice: he could renew his trust in the God who
promised to see him through; or he
could attempt to solve the problem in his own strength and wisdom. He chose
the latter. It was a perfectly understandable reaction; when things feel out of
control, our first instinct is to attempt to take control. But in relying on his
own shrewdness, Abram made the situation grow worst. He forsook his wife, ‘prostituting’
her to save his own skin.

When we trust in our own
shrewdness, we draw a very strict limit around the solutions that are available
to us. In my own experiences, many of those solutions are worse than the
original problem, simply because I trust myself more than I trust God’s
guidance and promises. When we rely on God, we open ourselves to a whole
universe of solutions. Now, practically today, how to know God’s will in our
lives? How to make God-centred decisions? For Abram, he can just ask God, but
he didn’t. For us today, we have the
Holy Spirit and the Word of God available
and accessible to us. Get serious with the Word. To know God’s will is to have
the mind of Christ; to have the mind of Christ is to know God’s Word: God’s
will is God’s Word. It is through God’s Word that we can have faith in the God
of the Word.

I miss you so much. There is no line and internet
coverage here, so I write a letter to you. It’s been awhile, I don’t know what to
say at first, but surely, what come to my mind first is this: I love you.

Annie,
I think it’s time for us to get more serious in our relationships. I don’t mean
that we’re not serious before, but I think that we should start discussing more
deeply about our faith and probably we should start attending church together. Someone
once says: “Christians are like coals of
a fire. Together they grow – apart they grow cold.” I don’t want to just
grow old with you. I want to glow in Christ together with you.

We
live in a world that is teeming with temptations and distractions – a world
where good and evil struggle in a constant battle to win our hearts and souls.
Our challenge, my sweet Annie, of course, is to ensure that we cast our lot on
the side of God. One way to ensure that we do so is by the practice of regular,
purposeful worship in the church (And outside church buildings too). When we
worship God faithfully and fervently, we are blessed. When we fail to worship
God, for whatever reason – our busyness, distant or works – we forfeit the
spiritual gifts that He intends for us. “We are co-workers in
God’s service” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Thus, as we start to attend
church together, we should make an effort to serve Him in the church.

Love,
every day provides opportunities to put God where He belongs: at the center of our lives and our
relationships. When we do so, we worship not just with our words, but also
with deeds, and that’s as it should be. I pray and I insist [as your man] that Christ
comes first. Always first. I read your shared post on Facebook: “Nothing will bring two hearts closer than two
hearts after the heart of God.” Cool! How true! As I read the Scriptures, I
can be sure that God really loves His church and that’s where His heart is. Where
there are Christian fellowships, there is “the
heart of God.” So dear, to “bring two
hearts closer” – mine and yours – we should start attending and be involved
in church together. This is not the only way, for sure, but it is the best way J

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go
from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will
show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be
blessed through you.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went
with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took
his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated…
they set out from the land of Canaan, and they arrived there”
(Genesis 12:1-5, NIV).

Abram (later will be
called Abraham) lived somewhere in modern-day Iraq, most likely from a tribe of
moon-worshippers. Nothing in the Bible indicates what kind of man Abram was -
nothing about his moral life – that separated him from other pagans. And yet
God choses him. Few chapters after the Bible recorded that Abram was quite
average in his character and integrity.

But God called Abram
anyway. Abram, this childless 75-year-old, would be a great nation someday, and
through him God would bless all the nations. All Abram had to do (which is the
hardest to do) was leave everything he had ever known – his country, people and
household – and follow this mysterious Voice to a new country. The Voice doesn’t
mention, by the way, where this new country is, or how long it will take to get
there.

Amazingly, Abram followed.
Whatever his shortcomings, the man had an astonishing capacity to believe. He staked
his whole life on the conviction that God’s promises were true. Again and
again, Abram made mistakes. But he always returned to this first conviction: God’s promises are true. That capacity
to believe is what made Abram the father of our faith. Obedience come from
believing in God’s promises. Abram could not always know what route the journey
would take but he learned to trust in God to direct his steps.

How can Abram's faith in
God’s promises encourage you
to entrust your needs more fully to God?

Sunday, March 20, 2016

“Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied
there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me’… The
disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey
and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large
crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed
shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’”
(Matthew 21:1-2, 6-9, NIV)

Jesus knew how to get a
party started. On that day there were thousands of Jews journeyed to Jerusalem
to celebrate their annual Passover festival. Jesus chose that crowded day to
enter the city on a donkey. What may seem like an ordinary ride to some people
(for an Iban like me, this event is meaningless) was actually a significant fulfilment
of a prophecy by the Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, that the Promised One,
the Jewish Messiah, would ride into Jerusalem on the back of a young male
donkey (read Zechariah 9:9 and Matthew 21:5).

Lining Jesus’ path with clothing
and branches was a sign of paying homage to the One they now proclaimed as
their God-sent King. Like screaming fans watching a celebrity walk to the red
carpet, the Jewish people shouted with joy over Jesus’ arrival. Many considered
Him their long-awaited Deliverer who would rebuild Jerusalem and restore the
line of King David. They hailed Him as “the Son of David”
which He was through the linage of both Joseph and Mary.

But Jesus’ glory ride would
soon end (for the people) in tragedy. The crowds would change their praises of
him “Hosanna!” to curses
“Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:22-23). Why such dramatic
changed from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him”? Because the crowds had the wrong expectations
of Him. You see, Jesus on His first coming didn’t come to earth for people’s
honour, recognition, privilege or title. He said His mission on the previous
chapter: “The Son of Man did not come
to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”
(Matthew 20:28).

This Palm Sunday please be
remember that: ‘the triumphant entry’ story is about the King who came as a
lowly servant on a donkey, not in royal robes; but on the clothes of the poor
and humble. Jesus comes not to conquer by force as earthly kings; but by love,
grace, mercy, and His own sacrifice for His people. His is not a kingdom of
armies and splendour; but of lowliness and servanthood. He conquers not nations;
but hearts and minds. If Jesus has made a triumphal entry into our hearts, He
reigns there in peace and love. As Jesus followers, we must exhibit those same
qualities – the spirit of Palm Sunday – love, grace, mercy, servanthood and
peace. Let the world sees the true King living and reigning in triumph in us.
Amen.

If you display love, grace, mercy, servanthood and
peace in your lives, you praises Him;
If you display the otherwise, you curses Him

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

“’Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your
name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can
in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is
for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name
because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. If
anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble,
it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck
and they were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:38-42, NIV).

I’m not sure which ‘John’
was talking to our Lord Jesus here. I assumed the young apostle John. I think
John was really shook up. He saw someone else minister to people in Jesus’ name
then he tried to shut him down because “he was not one of us”
or “he wasn’t in our group”
(The Message). ‘Hey, you can’t do that,’
I imagine John might have said today. ‘You’re
not an ordained minister. Besides, you didn’t exorcise the demon our way; you
don’t dress like we do and you didn’t sing gospel songs like we do.’ What I
hear Jesus might saying in His reply is: ‘It’s
okay John. Just because he’s not in your denomination doesn’t mean he isn’t one
of My disciples. The important thing isn’t that he be in our group but that he
minister in My name.’ Really, Jesus said: “Do not stop him.”

There are a lot of people
around today who think as John thought. We know the Bible says that all
believers are one in Christ, but we are pretty suspicious of anybody who doesn’t
believe in Jesus exactly the way we were taught (Just like a young Richard). Here,
Jesus pointed out two reasons why John and other disciples should not stop
anyone to use His name: 1) No one doing
miracles in His name will turn against Him (v.39); and 2) Anyone who isn’t against Him and His disciples are supporters not
saboteurs (v.40).

Steven, Gibreson and
Oliver are all Christians. Each confess Jesus to be the Lord and Saviour of his
life and all three are filled with the Holy Spirit. Steven’s church (Catholic)
has an altar and crucifix; the congregation sings anthems for worship; the
bishops serve wine for communion and baptize by sprinkling. Gibreson’s church (Anglican)
has a foyer and choir loft; the congregation sings hymns in worship; the ministers
serve grape juice for communion and baptize by having water pour on head or
fully immersed in water. Oliver’s church (BEM/SIB) meets in a simple-decorated
room, the believers sing contemporary songs, and the elders serve apple cider
for communion and baptise in a river by immersion. When these three guys
attended Christian Fellowship as students, they could do one of two things: 1)
Avoid each other suspiciously and seek fellowship with their own ‘kind’ only or; 2) Set their denominational distinctive
aside and focus on their oneness in Christ. Jesus’ Word in Mark 9:38-42
leads me to believe that He preferred the latter.

It’s important for Jesus’
followers around the world to appreciate one another differences - their church
traditions and methods – to link hands and hearts as one in Christ. As long as
someone claims a relationship with the Father through faith in Jesus Christ as
Lord and Saviour and committed to the truth of God’s Word, there are common
ground upon which to build a relationship. We must not boast to have exclusive
right to certain teaching and ministry methods. We are not to let modes of
worship or denominational distinctive separate us as family in Christ. Let us
enjoy and appreciate the variety of people who follow Jesus – our brothers and
sisters in faith. Let us not cause anyone “to stumble”
but together we must encourage one another. Amen.

“[Men] said, ‘Come, let us
build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we
may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole
earth’… The LORD said, ‘If as one
people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they
plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their
language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered
them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. This is
why it was called Babel – because there the LORD confused the language of the
whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole
earth”

(Genesis 11:4,
6-9, NIV).

God’s first command to
humanity was: “Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). In other
words, spread out across the earth! When people spread out, after few decades,
they will speak different languages and creating different cultures (Yes, I
watched National Geography on human
languages and cultures). Without human intervention, that seems to have been
God’s plan all along – to have not “one language and
common speech” (11:1) forever but a multi tribes and nations, each
praising God in its own way. The Bible has much to say about “every tribe and nation” coming to God.

But in the generations
after the Flood, the people had other plans. They didn’t want to fill the earth
and subdue it. They wanted to stay right where they were and become great – “make a name for ourselves” – which can be mean as wanted
to be like gods. So they began building the great city and the tower that would
reach to the heavens – challenging God’s authority and God’s lordship over the
people and culture.

God had other plan for
them. He confused their language and scattered them from there over all the
earth. Certainly, it was a punishment. But it was also a mercy, for it forced
the people out of their delusion of self-sufficiency and self-reliance into something
richer and more adventurous. It is amidst of our diversities that God want us
to unite under one Christ. In this way, God is more glorified when “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation,
tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”
(Revelation 7:9) worshiping God. Beautiful! This is God’s plan. Amen.

Monday, March 14, 2016

“[God] said. ‘This is the sign
of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with
you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the
clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever
I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will
remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the
rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting
covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth’”

(Genesis
9:12-16, NIV).

In the Old Testament (no
less than the New Testament), God’s
anger is always answered by His grace. The global destruction of the Flood
was followed immediately by the promise of hope and mercy. “Never again,” God promised, would He send the kind of
flood that Noah and his family had just lived through. And the sign of that
promise was a bow in the sky – a rainbow.

FES staffs like to see
rainbow. Rainbow is like a giant bow in the sky. It is worth noticing that the
bow is aimed to shoot its arrows up toward heaven, not down toward earth. The bow
is not against humankind that say: “Behave
yourselves or the arrow of God’s wrath are going to shoot at you again.”
No, this bow is positioned to shoot at the heart of God. It is as if God is
saying: “I promise, cross My heart.”
In this covenant, God puts Himself on the hook.

Most of the covenants in
the Bible are two-sided, in which God’s people agree to hold up their end of
the bargain. But this covenant – between God and the earth – is all about God. God’s anger is always
answered by His grace and mercy.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

This is excerpt from C.H.
Spurgeon’s Concerning Prayer sermon delivered
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington (1888). I just love Spurgeon!:

We expect the Lord to hear
our prayers. No, we are sure that He does so. We hear our fellow Christians
say, when we tell them of instances in which God has heard our prayers, “How
very extraordinary!” And we look at them and say, “Extraordinary?” Has it
become an extraordinary thing for God to be true to His own Promise? I like
better the remark of the good old lady, who, when her prayer was answered, was
asked, “Does it not surprise you?” She said, “No, it does not surprise me. It
is just like Him.”

If anyone of you had a
promise from a friend that, upon your sending in a note, he would give you
such-and-such a thing—if you sent the request and he fulfilled his promise,
would you say, “I am greatly surprised at his action”? No, no—you believe that
your friend means what he says and you look for him to keep his word. O child
of God, deal with God on those terms. The wonder was that He should make the
promise at all! But when He has made the promise, it is not wonderful that He
should keep it—He expects you to ask and He waits to give.

A promise is like a check.
If I have a check, what do I do with it? Suppose I carried it about in my
pocket and said, “I do not see the use of this bit of paper, I cannot buy
anything with it,” a person would say, “Have you been to the bank with it?”
“No, I did not think of that.” “But it is payable to your order. Have you
written your name on the back of it?” “No, I have not done that.” “And yet you
are blaming the person who gave you the check? The whole blame lies with
yourself. Put your name on the back of the check, go with it to the bank and
you will get what is promised to you.”

A prayer should be the
presentation of God’s promise endorsed by your personal faith. I hear of people
praying for an hour together. I am very pleased that they can. But it is seldom
that I can do so and I see no need for it. It is like a person going into a
bank with a check and stopping an hour. The clerks would wonder. The common
sense way is to go to the counter and show your check and take your money and
go about your business. There is a style of prayer which is of this fine practical
character. You so believe in God that you present the promise, obtain the
blessing and go about your Master’s business.

Sometimes a flood of words only means excusing
unbelief. The prayers of the Bible are nearly all short ones—they are short and
strong. The exceptions are found in
places of peculiar difficulty, like that of Jacob, when he cried—

“With you all
night I mean to stay,

And wrestle
till the break of day.”

As a general rule, faith
presents its prayer, gets its answer and goes on its way rejoicing.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.
God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had
corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I
am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence
because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make
yourself an ark of cypress wood… I am going to bring floodwater on the earth to
destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life
in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with
you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your sons’
wives with you’”

(Genesis
6:11-14; 17-18, NIV).

I observed that we tend to
treat Noah’s flood as a children’s story. The ark floats steadily atop the
rising waters, a smiling giraffe poking its head through the window, and Noah
smiled as if everything was fun to watch. But the story of the Flood is a story
of God’s wrath.

God’s wrath is not an easy
or pleasant thing to contemplate. But it expresses itself throughout the Bible
in the Old Testament as well as the New. God’s
wrath is another aspect of God’s love. To use the lesser example: If you
love anyone deeply, you already know how your anger burns against anything that
would harm that person. God’s wrath – His righteous-anger (not like ours’) –
aims for that which seeks to destroy the people He loves. Sin destroys lives,
relationships, and happiness. The anger of God is like the anger of surgeon who
cut away cancers rather than seek to harm their victims.

God pours out His wrath by
finally giving people what they want. The people of Noah’s time wanted to live
without God. So God removed His loving hand from their lives and floodwaters
poured out. In the end, the people got exactly what they wanted – and it was
the end of them.

What’s hope for us today? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “[God] demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his
blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
(Romans 5:8-9). Don’t have it your way; wants God’s way - enter the ark of God.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil
as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering – fat portions
from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked at favour on Abel and
his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain
was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face
downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not
do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but
you must rule over it.’ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they
were in the field, Cain attached his brother Abel and killed him”

(Genesis 4:3-8,
NIV).

The brokenness and the
consequences of post-Fall sinful-world reached a new level in the relationship
between Cain and Abel, the first brothers. They both brought their offerings to
God. Abel, a shepherd, brought the best of animal; Cain brought fruits and
vegetables.

God accepted Abel’s
sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. Cain was furious – whether angry at God or at
Abel or both, the Bible doesn’t say specifically. Nor does the Bible spell out
directly why God rejected Cain’s sacrifice, but it seems likely that it was the
state of Cain’s heart – and not the technicalities of produce offerings verses
animal sacrifice – that stood between Cain and God. “If you do what is right,” God admonished Cain, “will you not be accepted?” God followed the question
with a stern warning: “But if you do not do
what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you
must rule over it.”

Even as He look into Cain’s
dark heart, God gave the first murderer a choice. But Cain chose to be a slave
rather than master of his sin. His external anger was a manifestation of a
deeper sin inside. Each of us has the same choice: what do we do with it is up to us.
Remember, now we have Christ and His Spirit. We can overcome sins by His power
and grace. In Christ, “You must [can]rule over it.” God is sovereign and we have choices.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

“To the woman [God] said, ‘I
will make your pain in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.’ To Adam he said, ‘Because
you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded
you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ ‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through
painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will
produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By
the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return’”

(Genesis
3:16-19, NIV).

Before Adam and Eve
sinned, the earth offered up its good things willingly. It even watered itself
(2:6). I imagined. Everything changed, however, after that first sin. Now cursed,
the ground produces “thorns and thistles”
more easily than fruits and vegetables. Since the Fall, work has been a
struggle – contrast to work before the Fall.

Work is not the result of
the Fall. It is sacred. Even before they had sinned, Adam and Eve had the job
of taking care of the Garden (see 2:15). From our post-Fall perspective, it’s
hard to imagine what such work might have: no thorns and no thistles. But
whatever that post-Fall work might be, we can – I can – be confident that it
was a work of cooperation with the earth, free from the frustration of the work
we experience where the weeds always grow back, no matter how many times we
pull them (ask my mother).

Because of sin, everything
is harder than it has to be. Have you ever wonder about that Christians? Work
is harder. Childbirth is harder. Relationships are harder. And yet this is still our Father’s world, and He still calls us to push
through the hardships to gain such rewards as this world yields. God’s grace,
yes; hard works, of course.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the
LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did
God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’ The woman
said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit
from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the
tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you
will die.’’ ‘You will not certainly
die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For
God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the
tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining
wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate it”

(Genesis 3:1-6,
NIV).

The serpent promised Eve
new “eyes” to see what God sees. Adam and Eve got a new perspective, of course,
but it wasn’t God’s perspective. The serpent taught them to doubt God’s
goodness. The serpent accused God as having hidden agendas when He commands
them the straightforward: “You must not eat
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will
certainly die” (Genesis 2:17). God desires for them to joyfully obey
Him – to choose life. But the serpent wants them to find misery when God had
intended only good for them.

No longer pure in hearts,
Adam and Eve hid from God. They believed that the shame they were experiencing
must reflect God’s true view of them.
The serpent, after all, had told them that eating the forbidden fruit would
open their eyes. Lies! The truth is, Adam and Eve already had a godlike view of
the world they inhabited. The serpent – the Devil – took away the very thing he
promised to give.

Since that day in the
Garden, our perspective has been tainted. We find it very hard to believe what
may be the simplest, most fundamental truth of all: God loves us, and He wants what is best for us. It is forever be
true.

Friday, March 4, 2016

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not
good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now
the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the
birds in the sky… But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God
caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took
one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD
God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her
to the man. The man said, ‘This is now
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she
was taken out of man’”

(Genesis
2:18-23, NIV).

Throughout the Creation
story, a phrase repeated over and over again: “God saw that it was good.” The day was good. The night
was good. The seas were good. The dry land was good. The trees, the plants, the
mountains, the rivers, the birds, the animals, Adam – God saw all of it and saw
that it was good.

So it is a surprised for
me when I read God declares that something is not good. “It is not good for the man to be alone,” God says. He was
not pleased to see Adam’s loneliness so He created a companion – a helper – for
the man out of his very bone and flesh.

“At last!” Adam said (Genesis 2:23, NLT). That
little exclamation is telling. The world was freshly made. This was before the
Fall, remember. Adam was living in the beautiful Garden. He had the full
presence of God. And yet in the absence of another human being with whom to
share it all, Adam couldn’t truly enjoy it all. And then, God created another
human being like Adam. Thus, Adam exclaimed: “At last!” No more loneliness.

We were made for relationship, not for
self-sufficiency.

You’re not alone. You shouldn’t be alone – God wants
us to be in fellowship.